Linking the LGBT community to pedophilia as the ADF has done is not an expression of a religious belief.

During his campaign, President Trump promised to be “a real friend” to the LGBT community. Yet, yesterday, his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, lauded the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group that vilifies the LGBT community and promotes discrimination against it in the name of religion.

What’s more, Sessions attacked the SPLC for calling the ADF what it is – a hate group that would like to push the LGBT community into the closet if not into jail. Sessions’ words and actions reflect what is painfully obvious: Contrary to Trump’s campaign promise, his administration is no friend of the LGBT community.

The ADF richly deserves the hate group label. It supports the criminalization of sexual relations between consenting adults abroad. It opposes anti-bullying policies that provide protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It says that the American Convention on Human Rights should not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. It promotes the myth that there is a link between homosexuality and pedophilia despite the fact that the weight of scientific authority has debunked the claim.

Linking the LGBT community to pedophilia as the ADF has done is not an expression of a religious belief. It is simply a dangerous and ugly falsehood. FBI hate crime data show that the LGBT community is the minority group most likely to be targeted for violent hate crimes. Demonizing the LGBT community and portraying it as a danger to children is likely to exacerbate the hate crime epidemic it is facing.

Will Kohler is one of America's well known LGBT historians, He is also a a accredited journalist and the owner of Back2Stonewall.com.
A longtime gay activist Will fought on the front lines of the AIDS epidemic with ACT-UP and continues fighting today for LGBT acceptance and full equality.
Will’s work has been referenced in notable media venues as BBC News, CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post, The Daily Wall Street Journal, Hollywood Reporter, and Raw Story,
Mr. Kohler is available for comment, interviews and lectures on LGBT History.
Contact: Will@Back2Stonewall.com